LIKE CANDY
by ActionAimz
Summary: The stakes are high for Jax and Courtney. But the jaded have nothing to lose.


**Like Candy  
A Casper ficlet  
_The stakes are high for Jax and Courtney. But the jaded have nothing to lose._**

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Her face hurt from smiling so hard. Hours of doing nothing but smiling and laughing. And rolling her eyes.

_Jax, what an arrogant ass._ Still smiling.

She was the child of a gambler – she had it in her blood. And she would be damned if she would lose this bet. The odds were completely stacked in her favor. All she had to do was resist Candy Boy's charms? _Oh yea, piece of cake._ Still smiling.

_La di da._ She picked at her nails and feigned a yawn as he droned on some more about romantic getaways at exotic locales, candle-lit dinners, lots of dancing. And kissing. Whatever. It was about helping underprivileged children. She could certainly suffer through a few dates and choke back her laughter when he puckered up. For a good cause.

She was vigilant on the plane, sleeping with one eye open. His shoulder made a decent pillow. And oh she was perched and ready to slap his wrist should his hand get any closer to her breast.

"Don't go there, Jax." Still smiling.

"I already did."

She decided to go ahead and snore, loud. Maybe drool all over his custom tailored suit. There was certainly no need to impress. It was about the kids.

----

"Ten million in an endowment will help children for years to come. It's about the kids."

Carly wasn't buying it. Nope. "Are you trying to convince me of that or yourself?" Carly cranked around to spy Jax at the bar, lifting a glass and winking an eye.

"So smooth."

"Oh the cognac? Yea, Jax recommended it. It's really good."

"I meant Jax, not the drink dear. And apparently you did too. Did you get that tan in Monte Carlo? During your business trip?" She shook her head as Courtney smiled into her glass. "Has the world had gone mad?"

"Carly this is going to be so easy. I am confident" Confident? She hadn't felt that way in awhile.

"Jax is used to getting what he wants."

"Not this time."

"We'll see."

"Whose side are you on!" Courtney denied the tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach. And she had to bite her lip. To stop the smiling.

----

He walked her to the gazebo, not all the way home. No way. Did he even know whom he was dealing with? She had survived far worse than this. Far worse. _What an arrogant ass._

"Why does Sonny call you Candy Boy?" She placed her hand on his chest to halt his advance as he leaned in for a kiss. Oh boy not again. If he even dared try to kiss her again, she would break into a fit of laugher. Sidesplitting hysterical laughter.

The mere mention of Sonny's name -- that would launch him into a rage, no doubt. Then she wouldn't have to embarrass him yet again. Yup, everything was about Sonny. Even this. She had Jax's number.

She kept giggling, but he kept moving. She gave him her best "ick" look, but he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close anyway. If his cologne wasn't so potent, his massive arm so big and strong, she would have been able to resist. But she didn't find it worth the effort. It didn't matter. This was all Machiavellian and material ripe for a comic book.

_He must workout like every day five times a day. Just to keep his weight down. My what a big arm you have suffocating me. Ha, ha._ She sighed, and tried to not think about how her face seemed to get lost in his chest. "Answer the question, please," she said breathlessly, eyes millimeters away from his heartbeat. "Why does Sonny call you . . ."

"Candy Boy? Oh I don't know. Maybe 'cause I'm so sweet."

"Oh gawd, You are so lame!" She couldn't roll her eyes any harder. Or keep her toes from curling. Or stop smiling.

His lips grazed her cheeks, ever so slightly, warm on her flesh in the spring breeze. Blame his cologne clashing with lilacs for the sudden dizziness that made her have to brace herself against his body – cradle his neck as he made his move.

Her giggles faded away into his lips. Her heart beat against her eardrums. A warmth spread through her body, throbbing at her core. She was lost in his kiss, opening for him, seeing if he tasted sweet. And he did.

----

_Better in bed? Yea right. He wishes._ Courtney flopped down on her sofa, thinking about how to invest the ten million that Jax would fork over in three months. She hadn't thought about Jason all day. But why didn't she deck Jax for making such a crude statement? Flip him on his back. Shove that poker chip right up his . . . _Bark!_

"Because it's so laughable. Right Rosie." Rosie rolled over to allow Courtney to rub her tummy. She had been speaking to her dog in an Aussie accent all evening, while making dinner. Kind of a combination of Julia Child and Jasper Jack – ish talk. Kind of funny, kind of made her smile. She had hummed the same tune for hours. Couldn't get that darn song out of her head, the one that was playing when Jax _forced_ her to dance with him.

He was graceful and light on his feet to be so big and tall. And he didn't try to grab her ass, true, he was not a groper. She would give him that. He did have interesting eyes and smelled kind of good in an overpowering nauseating sort of way. Not a bad dresser either. A little too put together for her taste though – suit, tie, tie tack, shirt with lots of buttons. Cuff links!! If she ever did decide to have sex with him, it would take hours for him to undress himself. Talk about ruining the mood.

But scratch that crazy thought -- she would never sleep with him, anyway. Never, ever, never. "EVER!" Rosie raised her head at her owner's declaration. "Don't look at me like that Rosie. You're supposed to be on my side. So you bark when that awful Mr. Jacks comes around again. Ya hear?" _Bark _ "No more running up to him so he'll pet you. Because he's really evil, right?" _Bark Bark_ "Does that mean yes or no?"

----

_Jasper Jacks Corporate Raider_. . .

Courtney flipped through May's "_Port Charles Monthly – Most eligible bachelor edition_." Jax was page 69. Oh boy. She would line her birdcage with it, if she had a bird. Too bad Rosie was housetrained too. She would love for someone to crap all over his face.

_"This international tycoon works as hard as he plays."_ Oh geeze. "He can play all he wants. He's not raiding this corporation," she said through a yawn while tossing the magazine aside and curling herself into a ball under her covers. Maybe tonight would be the night that she wouldn't dream of Jason, and wake up the next morning sobbing into an abandoned pillow. Maybe. The taste of sweet cognac was on her lips instead of beer. Fine wool against her flesh instead of aged leather. She rolled over and turned off the lights, smiling.

Her sleepy thoughts spun into slumber like a roulette wheel as the aroma of lilac bushes rode the evening breeze into her abode. She found herself behind a blackjack table in Monte Carlo dealing out cards. She was in her black powersuit, hair neatly pulled up, shuffling and dealing, maintaining her professional composure. Mr. Monte Carlo was decked out in white from head to toe, leaning over the table with a drink and devilish grin. Very much at home.

"Hit me."   
"Be careful what you ask for sweets. I punch hard."   
"So I am sweet."   
"If you say so. That doesn't mean I'm going to sleep with you."

Her told her that she had a beautiful smile and kissed her hand, softly. His lips on her flesh made her body tingle. He raised a finger to her cheek, ran it along the concave of her dimple, down her neck, slowly reaching the sweet spot between her breasts, the spot that tickled.

He swept her off her feet before she knew it or could protest. Sitting on top of the table with her legs dangling beneath her, she sunk into his kiss. This time there was no giggling or holding back. And it was sweet.

The cool air at her bare back, his warm mouth on her breasts gave her goose bumps, made her shudder. His lips traced the roundness of her curves, suckled the peeks of her mounds. She reached out to him, urged him, cradled him close to her heart. His hand splayed against her lower back, lifting and pulling her closer, moving along her inner thigh, completely shrouding, plunging and tending to her like he had found his true home.

She released the last button on his shirt, and ran her fingertips along the silken expanse of his chest. Pants slipped to the floor with ease. Everything flowed free, a blissful calm, like a rolling ocean.

He told her she was beautiful, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Strong, sexy, smart. Sweet perfection.

"But the bet . ."   
"Oh yes the bet. I would say you're losing."

She flipped him on his back, like she promised. Only gently. Straddling him, she scanned his physique, golden and tan, blonde and blue eyed -- like a giant Ken doll, only very anatomically correct. Very. She could pop off his head or pull out his limbs or make love to him. Let him touch her and hold her and make her feel loved. Give a reason her smile again.

With salt on her tongue, suddenly they were on the beach. Her lips, drying him of beads of ocean water, riding him of all bitterness. He pinched her earlobe between his lips and whispered how long he had wanted her. For years, not months. Just like this on a beach under moonlit stars. With no pretenses, barriers or regretful thoughts over past loves.

Wishful thinking perhaps. Her eyes were not brown. His soul was not tortured. And maybe that was a good thing.

"You're the only person I want to be with tonight."

She couldn't argue the sincerity of his words. The truth was in his intense blue/gray eyes that twinkled like stars when he looked at her. They saw only her, and pierced her reinforced heart that leapt from her chest. She caught beads of ocean water dripping sweetness from his chest on her tongue. She couldn't deny that she loved the feeling of his thighs -- thick, solid and smooth, surrounding her hips. The surf was wet and slick beneath her as she spread and opened for him. He slipped inside and she clung to him like a surfboard ridding a towering wave. Toes gripping sand, heels digging in calves. Fingers grasping the hard, bumpy muscles of his shoulder blades, down to the tight curve of his rear, contracting with every thrust. Holding him securely inside, soaking up all the sweetness, not letting go.

She heard neither hoofs of a white horse nor the hum of a motorcycle, just the rolling ocean and his shallow breath in her ear. Pure and crisp. Her own moans of pleasure as he drove deeper inside her. The stars above danced in the velvet sky before an explosion of white sent her over the edge, curling into his hard body and welcoming arms as foamy waves rolled over them and took their troubles out to sea.

----

"I am sooo _not_ losing this bet" Courtney sat up with her heart pounding out of her chest. She blew strands of hair out of her face before flopping back down and wedging a pillow in-between her legs. The damn throbbing. She frowned, then smiled. It was only a dream. "Whew. It was just a dream." A damn good one. "Not!"

Disoriented and dizzy, the lateness of the hour didn't seem to phase her as she stomped across the loft in her bare feet. Rosie had beat her to the entrance and was barking up a storm at the pounding door.

"Who is it?"   
"It's me."

She rolled her eyes at the scene. Jax standing at her doorstep with a paperbag and a smile. Rosie, who had suddenly grown quiet, licking his palm.

"Rosie, what did I say? Jax is not your friend."

"Aww sure I am." He scratched under her ears, and she allowed it. Traitor.

"Wha, What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"Well it's 11:30 at night I presume." He looked at his watch before inviting himself in. "I'm sorry for the lateness of the hour. I didn't realize you went to bed so early. The night is still young."

"Sure come right in," she said sarcastically as he had already entered and was making his way towards her kitchen.

"It just occurred to me that maybe you didn't have dinner. So I thought I'd come to the rescue." He began rummaging around in her cupboards. "Philly cheese steaks are your favorite right.? Where do you keep the plates?"

"Uh, do you mind? Coming here at all hours of the night was not part of the . . ."

"Cute pajamas." His eyes traveled from her eyes to her feet and back up, stopping somewhere in the middle. She blushed at his salivating and wrapped her arms around her waist to cover herself.

"They match too. Cute." He ran his finger up the exposed flesh of her waist and pulled at lacy bottom of her camisole. She smiled then frowned. Giggled at the tickling sensation then swatted his hand away before he reached her navel.

"Philly cheese steak, and fries." He waved the greasy brown bag up next to his smile.   
"I already ate."   
"Mmm, smells delicious."   
"I am going to kill Mike."

----

She grabbed a small vase and filled it with water, placing stems of faltering lilacs inside. She could feel her stomach revolting against her midnight snack of greasy steak and cheese. Jax fed her when she wasn't hungry and apologized when he wasn't sorry. She would never believe that he was sorry for constantly reminding her how much Jason had hurt her, and how undeserving he was to even breathe the same air as her.

"What did you do, swipe these lilacs from the tables at Kelly's?"

"No from your bushes outside."

She pursed her lips, giving him a look of extreme disapproval. "You're slippin' Casanova."

"No, no I am resourceful. All the florists are closed right now."

"Oh I would imagine so, considering that it's almost midnight."

"Yes it is Cinderella."

She felt his hard chest pressing at her back and had trouble uttering her comeback. "So are you Prince Charming coming with a glass slipper?"

"I sold my white horse to the circus. Nobility is overrated."

She neglected the running faucet as he wrapped his arms securely around her body. Her stomach was exposed and the material covering her was too thin not to feel his warmth. He kissed the top of her head then pulled her hair back and leaned down, pressing his mouth against her neck. She was afraid that he would hear her heart pounding and feel her pulse racing against his lips. She sighed softly and shut her eyes tight. "You'll use any trick in the book," she whispered.

"Yes I will."

She didn't move as he slipped below the elastic of her pants, rubbing his palms along her hips, moving slowly to her throbbing center where she was warm and moist. The water ran, but she wouldn't. She wasn't sleeping with him.

"I am sorry he hurt you most of all. And this is the last time I'll ever mention him."

She let him continue maneuvering and held his wrists to guide him to her pleasure spots until her knees buckled, her moans became audible, and she couldn't take anymore. She twisted her body around to face him, just before he drove her over the edge.

"Every day is another day." His hands slipped over her rear and he lifted her with ease. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she fell into him as he swept her way.

Breathless and at peace. . . And still smiling.

--end--


End file.
